After four consequent electoral defeats, Parakala withdrew from the electoral arena. He concentrated on public discourse through the current affairs programmes on television and his profession as a policy analyst. But in 2008 some like minded people approached Parakala with an intention to start a new alternative political platform. Popular matinee idol Chiramjivi was to be the face of the party. Parakala lent his support to the idea and worked to establish the party. He was one of the signatories to the application for the registration of the Political Party 'Prajarajyam' and one of its founding General Secretaries and spokespersons. But the experimented turned out to be another disappointment for Parakala. He found that there was no clear agenda and party tickets were given in exchange of money. Several local leaders openly hurled accusations at the party leadership. Parakala held a press conference at the party headquarters and launched a scathing attack on the party leadership for betraying the ideals for which the new platform was to stand for. Terming the party as Poisonous Ivy (Vishavruksham), he announced his resignation. That address to the press was telecast live and thousands viewed it across the state. That spelt the doom for the party. A party that was hoping to have an impressive performance ended up with securing just 18 seats with the charismatic Chiramjivi himself losing one of the two seats he contested from his native place. Many people still question the moral and ethical basis of Parakala holding a press conference at the party headquarters to criticise the party and its leadership. Opinion is still bitterly divided on this. The Prajarajyam seems to have put an end to the party and electoral political career of Parakala.

Achuthanandan was heavily criticized for his allegedly insensitive comments in regards to the family of the late NSG commando Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan who was slain while defending the city of Mumbai during the 2008 terrorist attacks. Under public criticism for not visiting the mourning family, the CM finally decided to visit them. But allegedly agitated by the perceived insult and insensitivity in sending police dogs to check in a house in mourning as well as Achuthanandan's not offering condolences in a timely manner, Sandeep's father requested that the minister not visit. When Achuthanandan attempted to enter the house, he was evicted by the father on live TV.[32][33] Smarting from the snub, Achuthanandan stated during a TV interview that "Is there any rule that both the Karnataka Chief Minister and Kerala Chief Minister should go together to his (Sandeep's) home? If it were not that it was Sandeep's house, not even a dog would have gone there."(translated to English from his reply in Malayalam).[34] Faced by heavy public criticism and furor over this, Achuthanandan eventually offered a public apology, which was accepted by Sandeep's father, bringing an end to the controversy.[35]